


partners in crime

by stonestars



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Episode 57 Spoilers, F/M, Fluff, Gen, the day after yeza was rescued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 13:05:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18499558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonestars/pseuds/stonestars
Summary: “So you really didn’t like…?”“Bone?” Nott supplies. “No, we didn’t.” She frowns. “Jester, I promise I don’t mean anything rude by this, but why are you so obsessed with my sex life?”--in which Jester has questions about romance and Nott has answers (and a little help with those answers)





	partners in crime

She wakes up to the sound of someone tapping softly on the door, and for a moment she forgets where she is and why she’s on the floor with Yeza curled up next to her instead of on their bed, and why Luke is knocking instead of coming right in and crawling in between them.

 

Jester’s voice, however, makes the illusion of the past disappear even quicker than normal. She speaks softly, barely above a whisper. “Nott? Are you awake in there? I know it’s kind of early…”

 

Nott carefully extracts herself from Yeza’s arms-- at some point he’d moved from being curled up against her to being curled up nearly around her. She looks down at his sleeping face for a minute, tracing every new line and scar, retracing old ones.

 

Jester knocks softly again. “Nott?” she whisper-calls, and Nott tears herself away from Yeza, hurrying as quietly as she can to the door. 

 

She opens it just enough to poke her head out. “Yeah? What’s going on, is something wrong?"

 

Jester shakes her head quickly. “No, no nothings wrong I was just wondering if… well, you know, we didn’t really get a chance to talk last night because you were with Yeza which makes a lot of sense, of course, but then Beau said something and I was thinking and I wanted to ask you something if that’s okay.” Her words tumble out quickly enough that it takes Nott a minute to process what she’s saying.

 

“Of course you can ask me something,” she says. She glances back at Yeza on the floor. She doesn’t want to wake him, but she also doesn’t want him to wake up and think she left him. “Let me just do one thing.”

 

Jester nods as Nott ducks back inside, leaving the door open a crack. She drapes her cloak over Yeza, hoping it’ll be enough to let him know she’s coming back.

 

“Alright,” she says when she gets outside, closing the door softly behind her. “What’s up?”

 

Jester looks down. “Well,” she says slowly. “How did last night go?”

 

Nott smiles at the memory of Yeza pulling the blankets to her. “Good. It went… good. Yeza is a very nice man,” she says. “He never stops surprising me.”

 

Jester fidgets a little with the hem of her skirt. “Did you…”

 

Nott blinks at her. “No! Of course not. He just spent a long time in jail, he was  _ exhausted!  _ He fell asleep the moment I tucked him in.” She flushes a bit. “I slept on the floor.”

 

Jester leans forward a little bit. “Alone?”

 

Nott flushes harder. “At first,” she says. “He woke up at-- at some point and pulled all the blankets over to me. I didn’t expect it but it…” she smiles again. “It made me so happy.”

 

“So you  _ really _ didn’t like…?”

 

“Bone?” Nott supplies. “No, we didn’t.” She frowns. “Jester, I promise I don’t mean anything rude by this, but why are you so obsessed with my sex life?”

 

Jester seems to shrink a little. “Well I just-- with Mama and the books Caleb and Beau and I read and you know, Oskar… and then Fjord and Avantika fell in love--”

 

“I wouldn’t call it love,” Nott interjects.

 

“--and they, you know, did stuff probably, I could tell, and, you know… that’s how love is. The way the books are and the way it is with Mama. So isn’t that how it is for you and Yeza?”

 

Nott is stunned to silence. For an instant, she is reminded of a quiet evening in Felderwin when she was pregnant with Luke.

 

\--

 

_ She’s sitting in a corner of Yeza’s workshop, sewing some of her favorite buttons carefully onto the eyes of the stuffed animals she’s been stitching up for weeks. Yeza’s standing at his work table, the quiet sounds of bottles clinking together and liquids bubbling away accompanying his soft humming. He stops humming abruptly, making her look up from her sewing.  _

 

_ “Honey?” she asks. _

 

_ “How should we tell the baby the story of how we met?” Yeza asks, pushing the goggles he’s wearing up into his hair as he turns around.  _

 

_ She blinks. “You’re worried about--” _

 

_ “No but really,” he cuts her off, coming over to kneel in front of her. “Should we tell them how it really happened?” He softens a bit when he looks up into her eyes. “I love the story, of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “But we should figure out how we want to tell it, right?”  _

 

_ A small smile crosses her face, slightly wicked. “Oh, honey, you’re right,” she says, playing up her sincerity, but making sure her teasing is clear, “how are we going to give our unborn baby the sex talk?” _

 

_ Yeza flushes bright red and starts stuttering as he searches for a response. “W-- well it’s good to be prepared, isn’t it? We’ve never done this before and both of us want to--” _

 

_ She laughs, setting aside the stuffed animal to rub a smudge of soot from his cheek. “You’ll be a great father, sweetie. I promise you. We'll figure it out when the time comes, stop driving yourself crazy over it.” Her eyes glint as she thinks to bring up an old argument. “You should devote that energy to putting yourself out there.” _

 

_ Yeza’s blush doesn’t fade. He reaches up to rub the same spot on his forehead he always does. “I know I should I just--” a realization hits him and he looks up at her suspiciously. “Did you just use my concern over our child as a way to bring that up again?” he asks, sounding almost amused. _

 

_ She hums and picks her sewing back up. “I don’t know,” she says. “Are you going to promote yourself more?” _

 

\--

 

She blinks the memory from her mind and looks up at Jester, who is visibly growing more uncomfortable with every second that passes without a reply. “Well--” she begins, just as Jester pulls the edges of her short green cloak further around her and starts shifting back away from her.

 

Jester speaks loud and fast as she moves. “It’s alright, it’s fine, I know lots of things about love and romance and stuff and I didn’t mean to ask about your private stuff and you don’t have to answer or anything I was just--” 

 

Nott grabs her hand to stop her, tugging her back towards the door behind them. “C’mon,” she says, not taking no for an answer. 

 

“Nott, what are you--” Jester lowers her voice as Nott closes the door behind them and she sees Yeza curled up among blankets and pillows on the floor, Nott’s cloak over him. “--doing?” she whispers. "Doesn't he need sleep?”

 

Nott waves her question off, crossing the room and kneeling down next to Yeza. “Yeza,” she says gently, one hand shaking his shoulder. He doesn’t stir, chest still rising and falling slowly as he sleeps. “Yez, honey, sweetheart--” he curls towards her and she knows she’s making progress “--love of my life, brilliant chemist of my heart, it’s time to get up, I need your help.” 

 

Yeza groans softly and tries to bat her hand away, pulling her cloak over his head.

 

Nott rolls her eyes in amusement, largely for Jester’s benefit, grinning when it earns her a giggle. She abandons her soft shaking of his shoulder to gently proad his side. “Oh Mr. Brenatto,” she says in a soft sing-song voice. He groans again. She sighs. “Sweetie, if you don’t get up now I’m banning you from alchemy until--” Yeza’s head emerges from the cloak. She grins. “Good morning.”

 

“That’s playing dirty,” Yeza complains as he rubs sleep from his eyes. 

 

“It’s not playing dirty, I just know you,” she says with a grin. It falters after a moment, as Yeza says nothing. He just looks her slowly up and down and she starts to wonder if sleep was what he needed to bring clarity--

 

He interrupts her thoughts by reaching out and tentatively letting his fingers touch her cheek. He breathes out a sigh and it takes her a moment to register that it’s of relief. A smile breaks out across his face. “It wasn’t a dream,” he says, so softly she almost misses it. “You’re as warm as you were yesterday.” His smile widens into the goofy grin that she loves so much. 

 

She flushes a little and looks down. “Yeah it’s-- it’s no dream,” she says, “I’m really here and I’m really… you know…”

 

Yeza ducks his head a little bit to catch her gaze, reaching up to tuck some loose hair behind her ear. “Veth,” he says. “You’re here. That’s-- that’s more than I could've dreamed of.” He looks up into her eyes. “I love you, yeah?”

 

She doesn’t look away. “Yeah.”

 

Yeza’s smile says  _ don’t you forget it _ . “Now, what did you need my help with?”

 

In that instant she remembers Jester’s still in the room. “Oh!” She points over his shoulder at Jester, who waves sheepishly as Yeza turns. “Jester’s here. I had an idea.”

 

Yeza’s bewildered by the statement, but Jester seems to put things together. “You don’t need to do that,” she begins, but Nott’s already shaking her head.

 

“Sweetie, remember when you were nervous about giving Luke the  _ talk _ ?” 

 

Yeza flushes. “ _ That _ part was all you. I was worried about telling him about--”

 

“--how we met,” Nott finishes with him, nodding. “Well, I found a solution! We can tell  _ Jester,  _ as practice.”

 

Yeza blinks a few times. “You want us to give your friend the…”

 

“Exactly. Well, not exactly. Sort of. I want us to teach her about  _ love.” _

 

His eyebrows furrow as he tries to put the scattered pieces together. “Well… Luke’s five,” he says. “I should hope we wouldn’t be doing it this _too_ soon. And I’m assuming she knows more than he would about things but… okay? If you want us to.” He looks up at Jester. “If you’re alright with it, Miss Jester?”

 

Jester nods, looking a little embarrassed. 

 

Nott beams at him and gestures for Jester to join them on the floor. She comes over and settles herself down on some of the blankets, pulling a pillow onto her lap. Nott sits facing her, one hand gripped in Yeza’s. 

 

“ _ Well _ ,” Nott says. “Why don’t we start with you telling Jester how we first kissed?”

 

Yeza flushes. Jester tips her head to the side and goes to say something, but Nott gestures for her to wait. “I-- I’d always thought Veth was super pretty, and her collections were really cool, and everyone made fun of her for it and I didn’t get why. And so I said something to one of the other boys and then, well, once you say something like that to them they never forget it and so a few weeks later we were playing a game and…” he fidgets a little. “One of them dared me to kiss her, and I felt terrible because what was she gonna think if our first kiss was a dare, and then she agreed, and I really couldn’t back out then-- and I didn’t really  _ want _ to back down-- and then it was wonderful and that was that…”

 

“Oh!” Jester says. “I knew that, didn’t I? You said it was a dare!”

 

Yeza flushes harder. “She knew?”

 

Nott beams. “Just that it was a dare. I just love it when you tell that story,” she admits, and Yeza buries his face in her shoulder.

 

“My wife is trying to kill me,” he mutters into her shoulder. 

 

Nott laughs and rubs his back. “I’m sorry, honey, I promise I won’t tease you anymore.”

 

Yeza lifts his head.

 

“Want to take it away with the story of our first time?”

 

He turns red again, looking between her and Jester for a second.

 

Nott bursts out laughing. “I’m kidding,” she says, “I won’t tease you anymore  _ now.” _

 

“You really are trying to kill me,” he says, his voice full of wonder and love and not at all matching the words. 

 

She leans her head on his shoulder. Jester’s watching them carefully, looking between both of their faces. “Our first date wasn’t even called a date,” Nott says, closing her eyes. “The next day he came by my house with a handful of buttons and invited me to come pick flowers with him.”

 

“Supplies,” Yeza pipes up. “I needed some alchemy supplies and I knew Veth collected flowers sometimes so I guess, yes, I invited  _ her  _ to pick flowers.”

 

“You fell into the river, trying to pick a flower for me,” Nott says, her tone all affection. 

 

Yeza laughs lightly. “It was worth it,” he says. “You laughed.”

 

“And fell in love,” Nott adds with a smile. 

 

Jester pulls a pillow onto her lap. “Can I ask something?”

 

Yeza and Nott nod.

 

“What does that mean to you guys? That you fell in love.”

 

They exchange looks. “Well,” Yeza says, scratching his forehead. “I guess there’s different kinds. Of falling in love. It didn’t just happen once.”

 

Nott pokes his side gently. “When’d you fall in love with me.”

 

“Would it be cheesy to say I still am?”

 

Nott bursts out laughing. “Incredibly so,” she says. She grins. “But say more.”

 

“Well, it’s just… you never stop learning new things about the person you love, right? When you start to love them or when you marry them or you've been married for years, that doesn’t mean you two are going to be the same always. You’re going to change,” he looks down at Nott, who has stopped laughing and is gripping the side of his shirt tightly. “But that change just means you get to fall in love with something a little bit new. It’s not something to be afraid of, it’s something to be… excited about.”

 

Nott turns her face into his shoulder to hide the tears forming in her eyes. “That answer your question, Jes?” she asks.

 

Jester leans forward, staring at Yeza intently. “What does it feel like? What does it-- mean? In my books, they say it’s like something tugging at you and you can’t stay away from them. Like you just gotta… you know!”

 

Yeza leans back a little. “W--well, I wouldn’t say it’s like I have to…” he blushes. “But something always did pull me to her. I wanted to get to know her. And then when I started getting to know her, I wanted to get to know her more. She’s like… the most complex and interesting alchemical formula! Every time you think you have it figured out, you discover something new, and it’s endlessly interesting and you’re always going to be amazed and surprised and-- oh!” he looks down. “Sorry, I got a bit off topic.”

 

“You really love alchemy, huh?” 

 

Yeza nods. “I love it almost as much as I love Veth. And Luke. It’s one of my favorite things, Miss Jester.”

 

Jester sits back, nodding slowly. 

 

Nott finally sits up from where she’s buried her face in Yeza’s shoulder. “What are some of your favorite things, Jes?”

 

“My favorite things?” Jester asks, frowning thoughtfully. “Well there’s mama, and the Traveler, and all of you guys, and Kiri--”

 

Nott cuts her off. “Not people, but things. You know, like buttons. Or flowers. Or a good glass of liquor.”

 

“Let’s stick with those first two,” Yeza adds. “And it can also be activities. Like alchemy, if that’s what makes you happy.”

 

Jester fidgets with the chain of the holy symbol attached to her waist. “Pastries,” she says. “Painting. A good prank-- does that count?”

 

Yeza and Nott nod encouragingly.

 

“Then definitely a good prank. And unicorns. Oh! Nugget and Sprinkle,” she scratches under the chin of the weasel under her hood. “I guess they count as people, don’t they?” She tips her head thoughtfully. “Not people… honey! Honey makes me happy. Definitely. So does dancing, and pink's my favorite color so I get happy when I see it, and--”

 

Nott is grinning. “Alright, Jessie, alright, we get the point. You don’t have to list them all. Just… take how all of those make you feel, okay?”

 

Jester thinks for a moment. “They make me feel… warm. And bubbly. And good.”

 

“That’s what it is.”

 

Jester blinks. “It?”

 

“Love,” Nott says, leaning forward to tap Jester’s nose. “Take all of those feelings, bundle them up, and see how it feels in your chest. When you meet someone who makes you feel like that? That’s how you know.” 

 

“But… Mama makes me feel like that. You do. Kiri does. Everyone in the Mighty Nein does.”

 

Nott nods.

 

“There’s more than one kind of love, Miss Jester,” Yeza supplies.

 

“I love Luke, and Yeza, and you, and everyone else. But not in the same way. That’s why you find the person who makes you feel like that in a way that no one else does. Sometimes it takes a while to figure it out, but… you will.” Nott smiles. “Besides, you’ve got me, and I’m an expert on romance.”

 

“That… makes sense,” Jester says. She twirls a strand of hair around her finger, thinking. “Can I ask you guys more things later? If I think of them?”

 

Nott and Yeza exchange a look. “Of course,” Nott says. “If we can help, we will. Like I said, I’m an expert in these things. And my husband can definitely hold his own, too.”

 

Jester smiles, leaning forward and giving the two of them a tight hug. “Thank you,” she says, and her hand tightens in the back of Nott’s coat. 

 

“Of course, Miss Jester,” Yeza says. 

 

Nott rubs Jester’s back lightly and makes a promise to herself. If a single possible suitor even  _ looks  _ at Jester wrong, she’ll be all over them before they can get another word out. “Anytime, Jes,” she whispers. "Anytime."

 


End file.
